ad astra per aspera
by whispered-ocean
Summary: Finally, free from Lawrence's controlling ways Carly finds herself back in Salem but what will she find waiting for her and why is she back. Bo/Carly
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **ad astra per aspera

**Rating: **T – mentions of triggering situations – sexual assault, psychological and physical abuse and child death.

**Pairing: **Eventual Bo/Carly.

**Summary: **Finally free from Lawrence's controlling ways Carly finds herself back in Salem but what will she find waiting for her and why is she back.

**AN: **This was one of my very first ever forays into fanfiction – before I even knew it was a thing. I found it on an old drive and decide to polish it up a little and post it. I know it's been nearly 10 years since CC was last on DOOL but after spending almost 12 hours straight re-watching Carly's first stint – I relized how much I still disliked what they did to her character the second time around. How isolated, alone and just generally unhappy they made her so I decided to post it.

**ad astra per aspera – _roughly translates into through hardship to the stars. _**

.1.

The large building, with its centuries of history loomed before her like the mouth of hell, cautiously, as if her legs were made of lead she allowed herself to be guided into the building by two of his closest friends, her hands clasped so tightly in front of her that her circulation was almost non-existent.

She could hear the quiet murmurs, the hushed chatter and the gentle yet haunting melody of the piano.

She could feel their eyes on her, sense their stares and questioning glances as she allowed herself to be seated.

She could smell the history of the building, the grief of those around her and the carefully chosen flowers that in just a few days would also be gone.

And then the murmuring stopped, the glances moved in a different direction and all of her senses became paralyzed as the organ's melody stopped, just for a second though before it started up again, the doors at the back opening as his flag-draped coffin was carried through the center.

Her eyes never left the dark, sleek coffin until it was placed down in front of her and slowly, she closed her eyes, trying to remember a time when she felt different.

It wouldn't come to her though, instead the dizzying maelstrom of emotions spinning throughout her body were loud, confusing and left her gasping for breath.

For years she had prayed for this day to come, imagined it happening a million different ways, pictured it every night as she closed her eyes, wishing for a sleep free of nightmares and a few hours respite from the living ones she encountered every day. The ones brought down on her by his heavy hands, cruel words and sadistic behavior.

Now it was here, now he was gone she couldn't help but feel cheated at the normality of it all. At the way his life had ended not by gun, dagger or poison like she had imagined all those years. Instead it had all been so mundane, so normal – it happened on a Friday evening, after he arrived back from a few days in Paris, where he had no doubt been swindling some desperate business out of everything they had.

A headache he had said, jet-lag he had blamed, whiskey was what he professed would cure it as his eyes had drifted over her slim frame, pale face and haunted eyes, a twinkle gleaming behind his tired eyes. And then it was so textbook it was as if she was back in medical school learning about the intricacies of the human brain.

He'd dropped the glass, his hands clutching furiously at his head as it felt like he was struck repeatedly in the back of the head, he had looked at her, his eyes pleading with her as realization dawned and she became aware of what was happening; his brain was hemorrhaging.

For 4 minutes and 27 seconds she had stood there and watched as he became pale and sweaty before collapsing to the floor. With his last breath he had pleaded with her to help him, to show him mercy and then despite all of those nights she had spent dreaming of this moment, of being free of him she leapt into action putting him onto his side before calling for help.

As she had watched the ambulance take him away, she knew that when it had come down to it, she couldn't do it, she couldn't take a life. And not because of her fear of him, or because he had broken her but in fact it was just the opposite. Despite all of the pain and trauma; the broken bones, ruptured spleen, punctured lung and psychological warfare he had repeatedly subjected her to she couldn't do it, she couldn't break her oath to always _do no harm_.

Because before she was Mrs. Lawrence Alamain she was Dr. Carly Manning and it was that one truth that had kept her alive all these years, kept her fighting and stopped her from giving up on hope when it had seemed all was lost.

The doctors had tried, a neurosurgeon has been flown in from Sweden to try and repair the damage done but it was beyond repair and 48 hours after he had collapsed Lawrence Alamain was dead, bringing his wife's 16 years of captivity to an end.

"And afterwards remember, do not grieve. For if the darkness and corruption leave. A vestige of the thought that I once had, better by far that you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad."

Carly couldn't help open her eyes at the irony of the words. As the service came to an end and the organ's haunting music started up again as Lawrence's body was carried towards its final resting place; in the Alamain mausoleum.

Casting her eyes towards the ground she watched as almost without thinking one foot was placed in front of the other until the darkness started to become light as the sunshine flowed through the doors reminding her that life was carrying on, even in the face of death.

"Katerina," a strong yet familiar voice spoke as she felt a reassuring hand placed upon her shoulder.

Looking up she wanted to scream, yell and throw things at the sound of her birth name, a name that had brought her nothing but pain. But as she lifted her eyes from the ground, she found herself face-to-face with the one person she didn't mind using that name, the one person who Katerina shared happy memories with; her brother, Francois.

"Fr … Frankie," Carly stammered, practically falling into his arms, after 17 years of being separated by Lawrence's reign of terror being in his arms felt safe, more than that it felt like home.

"Let's get you out of here," Frankie whispered, taking in her far too pale face and shaking frame as he protectively wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her towards his waiting car.

Nodding Carly allowed him to help her into the back of the car before he closed the door and walked around to the other side, getting in next to her.

"Kat-"

Carly held up a hand. "Please. No. Katerina is … dead … I need her to be … Carly. I'm Dr. Carly Manning," she stammered.

"Ok," Frankie agreed, sensing the utter despair in his sister's voice, wondering what had happened to her in all the years she had been kept away from him, a virtual prisoner in the Alamain compound, cut off from everything and everyone she had ever known. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Anywhere but here, take me away from here Frankie, take me far, far away," Carly pleaded.

Whilst Frankie wanted nothing more than to obey her every command, to take her away from the place that had destroyed her he had a million unanswered questions. "I can have the private jet ready in 30 minutes," he vowed, pausing for a few seconds before continuing. "But Carly, what about Nicky, we can't just-"

"Nicky's not here," Carly whispered.

"But it's his father's funeral?" Frankie questioned.

Carly shook her head, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "No. Frankie … Nicky he … he's not here … he's gone, Nicky's gone Frankie, my little-boy is gone."

"How? When? Why didn't you …"

Frankie stopped as he felt her body shake beside him, turning he gently held her face in his hands feeling the warmth of a low-grade fever beneath his hands, realizing just how pale, sick and barely holding on she looked he stopped his questioning, knowing that Carly would tell him when she was ready. He also knew that he would wait as long as she needed, because looking at his sister he knew that he needed to let her have the control over her story, when she told it and who she told because even without her saying a word, he could tell, just by looking in her eyes that control over her own story wasn't something she had been allowed in a long time.

"I'm here Carly, I'm sorry I stopped fighting … I'm sorry I let you go … sorry that I wasn't strong enough to … I should have fought harder, when Lawrence cut off contact I should have … I'm sorry, so, so sorry but I am here now and you will never be alone," Frankie vowed, holding his sister close as her body trembled with silent tears.

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

Walking out onto the beach Frankie rolled up his trouser legs as he walked towards the edge of the ocean where his sister stood, her feet immersed in the clear blue water as she looked straight out ahead. It had been 48 hours since he had turned up at the funeral, 47 hours since the plane had left the country that had held her prisoner for the last 17 years and 41 hours since they had arrived on the un-spoilt shores of Kenya.

As they had arrived at the private airfield Frankie had asked Carly where she wanted to go, she had remained silent for a few minutes before asking him to take her somewhere she had never been before, somewhere isolated, peaceful and without any memories. After a lengthy discussion with the pilot they had settled on Kenya, Frankie had done some charity work there a few years ago and fallen in love with the peaceful beauty of its pure white sands, azure water and endless plains.

He'd rented a house right on the ocean, there was an outdoor patios where you could sit in the morning, drink coffee and watch the monkeys play in the trees, tall green trees hid a short rocky path that led down a small private beach, so peaceful that you could hear where the ocean met the sky.

Frankie watched as she took a few steps backwards before sitting down in the sand, leaning forward and resting her head on her knees as she continued to stare out in front of her. Since they had arrived, she had barely spoken a word, barely eaten and he knew she hardly slept instead she was existing on coffee, water and the odd piece of fruit he could convince her to try.

Sitting down next to her he took her hand in his, he didn't say anything instead he was just silently letting her know that he was there, that she wasn't alone. Watching as a silent tear fell down her face, he wished that he could hear what she was thinking, that he could help her fight the demons that she was battling but she was a closed book. He was picking up clues though, little pieces of the puzzle that were slowly starting to come together in his head and he didn't like the picture they were creating.

She had scars, he had seen them yesterday as she reached up to get the coffee pot from the shelf and her stomach was exposed; one small diagonal scar on her left-hand side and another on her right. Her body struggled more now, climbing a flight of stairs had left her breathless and she was so pale all the time he worried that she might be anemic, but when he had broached the subject her posture had changed so dramatically that he had feared she might collapse.

She had panic attacks, brought on by seemingly innocent actions, yesterday someone had arrived to drop off a delivery of fresh fruit and fish and the creaking of the door had triggered her, leaving her hyperventilating and vomiting until she eventually cried herself to sleep, a short, broken sleep that had barely lasted 20 minutes. He had tried to talk to her about it but she had looked at him with such pain and terror in her eyes that he stopped, not wanting to be the one that caused her to feel that way.

"Everything was ok at first," Carly whispered, her voice barely audible that Frankie wasn't even sure if she realized she was speaking out loud at first.

Not wanting her to stop he remained silent, both of then staring ahead as the tide started to come in and the waves got closer and closer to them, as the water frothed around the edges creating a layer of white bubbles just inches away from where they sat.

Carly bit her bottom lip before taking a long, deep breath. "In fact, it was more than ok, we were happy, we were a family Frankie, a real family and I would have given anything for it to stay like that but … Lawrence got sick, really, really sick and he nearly died. He got better though, well his body did, but his mind didn't. He became depressed and then he became angry at everything."

"I tried to hide it from him at first," Carly continued. "Because I knew how he would react but it got to the point where I couldn't, where I had to tell him that … tell him the … that the baby I was carrying wasn't his. He guessed straight away, that when I left Salem I had taken a piece of it with me, a piece of Bo with me," she whispered, suddenly realizing that this was the first time she had said his name out loud in over a decade."

Clenching her fist as her fingers started to tremble Carly leaned her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. Needing to feel the safety that she had when he had arrived at Lawrence's funeral. "It was like it wasn't happening, he wouldn't speak of it, wouldn't look at me and just carried on as if I wasn't having another man's child."

"Then I got sick. Eclampsia, I remember cuddling with Nicky in his bed and my head was pounding, the doctor in me knew something was wrong but I had nowhere to go, no one to call. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to Nicky's terrified screams, I was bleeding, just a little but my feet were so swollen I could barely walk," she explained, her voice breaking as she recounted one of the most terrifying times of her life.

"Nicky's nanny; Eleanor found me and called Lawrence, it all moved really quickly after that, there was a private jet, a hospital in Switzerland and a labor that I don't remember. I had a seizure so they had to perform a c-section, they said I arrested on the table because my blood pressure was so high it caused a cardiac arrest. They were concerned that I might have suffered a stroke but my MRI came back clear and once my blood pressure was stabilized, they allowed me to wake up," she recounted, not having the full story herself it was hard to explain that time in her life.

As the tide continued to come in Carly could feel the edges of it as it reached her toes. "She was perfect. 5 pounds 4 ounces of perfection; and healthy, despite the drama surrounding her birth she was so healthy. Lawrence cried and for the first time since he got sick, I remembered the man I fell in love with. He said that no one could ever know that he wasn't the father, that he would allow me to keep her but I had to follow the rules or he would … he … I had to be given permission by my husband to keep my own child."

"Things were strained when we got home. Nicky was confused but excited to be a big brother and she was such an easy baby that everything seemed to come naturally; breastfeeding, sleeping patterns, learning to sit, crawl, walk and talk but Lawrence … he never held her. Never even really acknowledged her existence; we weren't allowed to celebrate her birthday, she didn't get presents at Christmas but she didn't know any different so she was happy, despite it all she was happy," Carly cried, as she closed her eyes picturing her perfect little girl, the little girl with her eyes and Bo's smile.

Frankie wasn't sure how long passed before Carly finally composed herself enough to start speaking again. But in the silent interim the tide had finally reached them, soaking their trousers and forcing them to move back further up the beach.

"Then it all changed again; just like it did when Lawrence got sick only this time it was Nicky that was sick. It started with little things like not wanting to get up in the morning, but he was entering the teenage years so I didn't think anything of it at first. Then came the bruises and the nosebleeds and as a doctor I knew even if as a mother I didn't want to believe it, to believe that life really could be that cruel," Carly picked up a handful of sand, opening her fingers as the tiny grains slipped through the cracks until her hand was empty again.

"AML, er acute myeloid leukemia and it was aggressive. We took him to a specialist in Germany and he was started on chemotherapy but it proved resistant, the abnormal cells just kept multiplying and multiplying. So, we took him to London where another specialist tried a tougher regime and with each dose of chemotherapy, I watched his body fading before my very eyes. Nicky was so strong though, so, so strong through it all … he always believed that he would be ok," Carly was sobbing now, a loud, heartbreaking sob that caused her whole body to shake as she forced herself to take slow, steady breaths.

It took until the sun began to set for her to steady her breathing enough to keep going. "It all ended in Milan; we took him to a specialist there who said that a bone marrow transplant was his only hope. Lawrence and I were not a match, after all only 50% of each of us his him but she was … Nicky's specialist said it was a miracle because they were only half-siblings but she was a perfect match. Nicky didn't want her to donate, she was only 4-years-old and his little-sister, he was protective of her, proud of her, he loved her more than he loved the idea of beating cancer but she was happy to do it, we told her that they were going to take her blood, because it was really, really clever blood and it was going to help mend Nicky's blood and she understood, my tiny little 4-year-old embraced the idea of fixing her big brother so the transplant went ahead."

"At first it looked like everything was going to be ok; Nicky went into remission and he became 100% engrafted with her stem cells. But before he even had the chance to leave hospital he relapsed, they wanted to do another transplant but he knew … my beautiful brave boy knew instead he begged us to take him out of the hospital, to take him some place magical just the 4 of us so he could just … let it end on his terms … 2 days before he officially became a teenager he died, in my arms as we watched the sun set over the Mediterranean from this beautiful beach house in Marseille," Carly told him, her eyes red and swollen from crying as a small, heartbroken, ghost of a smile danced across her lips as she remembered his final moments; just her and her two children.

"Lawrence wasn't there at the end," Carl started to explain. "He was in Saudi Arabia finalizing some big deal whilst trying to pretend that it wasn't happening, that our son wasn't dying. After Nicky's funeral … he … he blamed her … she was only 4-years-old and he blamed her, said that it was the 'Brady Blood' in her that had killed him. He was someone I didn't even recognize and 2 weeks after I buried my son he hit me for the first time, he hated her existence, but at the same time he wouldn't let me leave, wouldn't let me take her away because I was all he had left of Nicky," she said, not really sure how you explain the unexplainable.

Carly was exhausted both emotionally and physically but now she had started to she felt like she owed it not just to Frankie, but to her children that she tells their story, her story. "The taunting was almost worse than the physical attacks. The broken ribs, concussions, ruptured spleen and punctured lung I could deal with … because it kept him away from her, it kept her safe, but then one night on what would have been Nicky's 18th birthday he tried to … he went for her she was 9-years-old and despite it all, despite all of the weirdness, isolation and control of her childhood she loved him, he was her Papa, she believed that he hung the sun, moon and stars … she was devastated … she started to believe him, believe that her blood was evil, that it had killed Nicky."

"I had to get her away from that environment, from him. I started to make plans, with the help of the only person I could trust, a lawyer called Omer whose life I had saved when he suffered a heart attack at one of Lawrence's parties. We had it all planned, the car, the plane, the passports … all of it. We were so close to being free but the night it was supposed to happen Lawrence, he got drunk, really, really drunk and … that night was the worst yet … he beat me until I was unconscious and then he … he … I was unconscious and he … I came too and Omer was there, I couldn't leave, I could barely breath … it was then that I realized there no way out, but there was for her … I begged him to take her, begged her to go … she sobbed the whole time but they left and that was the last time I ever saw my precious, beautiful, brave girl," Carly whimpered, remembering the last time she had held her daughter.

"When Lawrence found out he had Omer killed, all he was doing was trying to help me and he died because of it. My little girl is out there somewhere and the only person who knows, the only one who could take me to her is dead … everything is gone Frankie. My little boy, my little girl, my career. Who I am? I don't even know anymore," she sobbed falling into him as he held her close underneath the beautiful multicolored sunset.

Frankie held her face in his hands just like he had after the funeral. "You are Carly Manning. Dr. Carly Manning. My sister. You are a mother, doctor, sister. You are brave, smart and the strongest person I know and you will get through this. We have money Carly, we have power and contacts and I will not rest until your daughter is where she belongs, until you have your little girl back," he vowed.

"She's not a little girl anymore," Carly whispered. "Last week was her sixteenth birthday. Sweet Sixteen and I wasn't there … what if she's forgotten how much I loved her, how everything I did from the moment I held her in my arms was for her and for Nicky. What if she doesn't want me to find her," she worried, all of her fears she had been holding onto bubbling to the surface like lava tumbling from a volcano.

When he had seen his sister walking out of the church at Lawrence's funeral, he had known something had changed, that the woman walking towards him was not the same person that had left Salem. But he had never, in a million moments of imagining what his sister's life had become thought it would have been this cruel. Carly was goodness and light, she was positivity and joy, she healed people, she believed in all things fair and kind so for the universe to turn around and destroy her like this, he was mad. Mad at Lawrence, mad at everyone who turned a blind eye but mostly he was mad at himself for not fighting hard enough, for believing Lawrence when he told him that Carly wanted nothing more to do with him.

As he held her trembling body, he silently promised her that no one would ever hurt her again, that he would spend every breath he had left making sure she was protected. And that he would do everything in his power to help her find herself again and to find his niece.

Frankie smiled as he tried to imagine what she would look like now, would she have her mother's eyes? Her father's smile? Carly's cheekbones? Bo's dark hair? As he tried to picture what she might look like he suddenly realized that whilst telling her story not once, in all of her pain and sorrow had Carly mentioned her name, instead always referring to her as my little girl, my daughter, her or she.

"Carly?" he asked, when her body had finally stilled. "Your little girl; what did you call her?"

Carly smiled as she pictured dark brown, almost black ringlets, sparkling green eyes and a smile so wide it almost reached her ears. "Eden. When she was born, I called her Eden Isabelle but … it very quickly became Edie. Edie Boo I called her … my little Edie Boo."

"Edie," Frankie repeated. "I love it."

"7 years Frankie … it's been 7 years and every time I close my eyes; I try to imagine what she would look like now, what she would sound like. Nicky's first years were stolen from me and then cancer took him away just a few short years later. And not it's been 7 years without her, I'll never get those 7 years back Frankie, so much has been taken that I will never get it back," Carly mourned, allowing herself to get lost in the pain and guilt that she had been keeping to herself all of these years whilst locked alone and isolated away from human contact.

Placing a gentle kiss atop her head Frankie allowed her a few moments with her grief before speaking. "Tell me what you need me to do K … Carly … tell me where you want to go from here."

"Salem," Carly whispered, barely daring to speak but ever since she left, she knew that after a while she would need to go back there and face him. That even though she had no idea where her daughter was, or where he was in his life that he deserved to know and perhaps together, along with Frankie they could find her. "I need to go back to Salem."


	2. Chapter 2

.2.

Despite Carly's declaration that she needed to go back to Salem Frankie had managed to convince her to take some time, to spend a few more weeks in Kenya. And he was glad he had because on the third day there she spiked a fever, her temperature skyrocketing to 103 degrees and her skin; which Frankie didn't think could become paler took on an almost deathly pallor.

"Carly, please let me take you to a doctor," Frankie pleaded.

Carly shook her head. "I am a doctor. Besides it just stress and exhaustion … my body has been in constant fight or flight mode ever since I left Salem that … it was all bound to catch up with me," she shrugged, closing her eyes and leaning back against the cushion.

Frankie sighed, watching as she leaned back in the oversized deck chair, a blanket wrapped around her despite the sweltering African sunshine. "Ok," he relented. "But if you still have a fever in 24 hours I am not taking no for an answer."

"I promise," Carly reassured him as she curled her feet up under herself and closed her eyes.

"Would you like something to eat?" Frankie asked.

Again, Carly shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"Carly," Frankie began. "Please just humor me a little. You've barely eaten anything; you can't fight this thing on coffee and water alone. Besides if we are going to be heading back to Salem soon you are going to need to save all the strength you can," he finished, remembering how exhausted she had been after telling him everything, he couldn't even begin imagine how much it would take out of her telling Bo about Nicky and Edie.

Opening her eyes Carly smiled softly at him. "Fine. You still remember the recipe for Helen's chicken soup?" she asked, referring back to the nanny they had as children.

"I sure do," Frankie smiled, standing up and lifting the blanket up over her before placing a kiss on her fevered brow. Watching her for a few minutes he waited until he was sure she was asleep before locating his phone, ringing a now familiar number he placed an order with a local grocery store who assured him they would have everything he needed over to the beach house within an hour.

Walking back into the house he sat down in the terraced area, opening his laptop he fired up his emails hoping for some good news instead all he was met with was the usual work-related spam. After his conversation with Carly he had vowed to trach down his niece, knowing that there was no way his sister would be able to begin to heal until she knew her child was safe.

Not knowing where to start he had decided to track down the death record for Omer, the lawyer that had helped Carly and taken Edie to safety. That part wasn't hard, the hard part was trying to track down any associates he might have had, people who might have helped him hide a child without asking too many questions.

Within hours he had located a few likely avenues; the first being a law associate of his who was currently working for the Royal Family in Jordan and the second being a distant member of Qatari royal family that Omer had gone to law school with. He had sent them both an e-mail asking them to contact him at their earliest convenience. However, as his virtually empty inbox told him they were either ignoring his request or had not yet received it.

Closing his laptop, he sighed, running his hand through his hair. He had considered placing a call to Salem, to his mother Caroline to try and get an update on what everyone in the small town was up to. In particular one Bo Brady. After all, with the fragile state Carly was in he wanted to know exactly what they were walking in to. He knew bits and pieces; Zach's death, Ciara's kidnapping and from the small snippets people revealed he knew Bo and Hope's marriage was going through a rough patch.

The last bit worried him, a lot of people in that town knew the history between Carly and Bo, knew the all-consuming love they had once shared and how, with Hope considered dead, Bo, Carly and Shawn-Douglas had built a life for themselves, a family. With that in mind the last thing he wanted was for people to twist Carly's reason for returning, to put 2 and 2 together and come up with 5. Because he knew his sister and he knew that she would not want people knowing the truth, that she would want to keep her deepest, darkest traumas hidden and would rather people see her as a wannabe home-wrecker than a victim.

"This is going to be bumpy," he muttered to himself as he heard an engine outside. Quietly opening the door so as not to startle Carly he pulled some notes out of his pocket and handed them to the driver before carrying the groceries inside.

For the next hour he tried not to think about the what ifs and maybes as he busied himself in preparing some soup, salad and a cheese plate; although groceries were somewhat limited in the isolated beach region they had chosen he had managed to track down a lot of Carly's favorites. Making it his mission to get her to eat at least one proper meal a day.

"That actually smells pretty good," Carly yawned, walking into the kitchen and leaning against the wall.

"Did you have a good nap?" Frankie asked, relieved to see a little color back in her cheeks.

Carly nodded, taking the glass of fresh juice he was holding out towards her. "So, so. Sleep hasn't been … peaceful in a while," she admitted.

After their conversation on the beach yesterday Carly had promised that she was going to make an effort to let Frankie in, to be completely honest with him, after all he was the one person in her life she knew she could count on to always have her best interests at heart.

"Maybe we could speak to someone, see if they can prescribe you something?" Frankie suggested, whilst he wasn't a fan of the medicate first, deal with the problem later kind of solution he also knew that if Carly didn't get some proper rest soon, she was going to burn out.

"No," Carly sighed. "I know it will take time, that things will be hard but I need to do this on my own terms; no drugs, no … psychiatrists I just, I need to take back control."

"I get that," Frankie reassured her as he handed her a tray of food to carry out to the terrace.

Sitting down Carly faced out towards the trees as Frankie placed a bowl of soup in front of her, dipping her spoon into the bowl she waited a few seconds to ensure it wasn't piping hot before swallowing it. "You know this is actually pretty good," she smiled. "When did you learn to cook?"

"I have been having lessons," Frankie sheepishly admitted.

Carly raised an eyebrow at him and for a split-second Frankie saw a spark of the person she used to be, the person she was before Lawrence's reign of terror. "Lessons? As in actual cooking lessons?"

"Kind of," Frankie shrugged. He had considered how much he should tell Carly about what had been going on with him since they had last seen each other. On one hand she was his sister, the most important person in the world to him and he wanted to share everything with her, but on the other hand the last thing he wanted was to cause her more grief, for her to realize just how much more she had missed out on.

"What is it?" Carly asked, sensing Frankie's hesitation. "What aren't you telling me?" she wondered.

Deciding that hiding the truth from her would only cause more pain in the long run Frankie smiled, maybe some good news would be just what she needed. "I'm married," he admitted.

"Married," Carly repeated as her face broke out into a smile, and in that moment, despite his reservations Frankie realized he had done the right thing in telling her, as he watched her face break into the first real smile he had seen since their reunion.

Frankie bit his bottom lip as he thought of his wife of 4 years, when he had seen the news about Lawrence, made up his mind to go to Carly she had been so supportive. "Yes. Her name is Elizabeth. Beth. She's a doctor Carly … a cardiothoracic surgeon and she loves to cook, like really loves to cook, I'm surprised you didn't notice the pounds I've piled on since I met her."

"Where is she now?" Carly wondered.

"New York," Frankie replied. "She wanted to come but, I didn't know how you would react to seeing me after all those years let alone my wife you didn't even know existed."

Standing up Carly wrapped her arms around her little brother. "Please never think you have to hide your happiness from me. For the first time, in a long, long time I feel something other than loss. I am just … there are no words to describe how happy I am for you little brother. You deserve the world."

"So do you," Frankie whispered in her ear.

Carly sat back down in the chair; her legs curled up under her as she took another few spoonful's of soup. "Half my world is gone," she breathed, referring to the death of her first-born child. "And I have no idea where the other half is," she concluded, closing her eyes as she once again pictured the face of her daughter. An imagine that was frozen at 9-years-old, the last time she had seen the other half of her world.

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

A she sat in front of the mirror brushing her dark brown curls 16-year-old Charlotte 'Charlie' Andrews paused, her eyes drifting up to the picture taken on her birthday. She was curled in a hammock as her older brothers pushed her, her parents watching from the sidelines as they watched their 3 children play around together.

Taking a deep breath she ran her fingers across her father's face, the tips of them trembling as she moved to her mother's face before dropping the picture and tracing her own reflection in the mirror.

"I must get this color from somewhere," she whispered as her finger lingered over the sparkling green of her eyes, a green that was so unique strangers actually stopped her to comment on them. "I just wish I could remember," she sighed.

Pinning the picture back up she looked down at her hands; she loved her family; her parents were good people and her brothers protected her and teased her just like older brothers should. But it hadn't always been this way, just like she hadn't always been Charlotte Andrews.

She was somewhere else before, someone else's little girl and if her memories were correct, she was pretty sure that once upon a time she was someone else's little sister too. She had been 9-years-old when she moved in with the Andrews, and her name had been something else, something that no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember, it was like it was on the tip of her tongue always waiting to be spoken but she never quite could.

She had a life before, a life that she had lived for longer than she had been Charlotte, been this version of herself, but it was like someone had taken a hammer to that part of her, shattered it into a million pieces and she was never able to put it back together again.

It came to her sometimes though. In small flashes of memory, usually triggered by something small, something seemingly unimportant but obviously a big part of her past.

There was the beach, whenever she felt the sand beneath her feet she could remember being wrapped up in a blanket, nestled between someone's legs as they ran their fingers through her hair and promised her that it would be ok, she tried almost every night to remember the voice, exactly how it sounded but it was distorted in her memories, like an echo of something that no longer existed.

Some nights she woke up in a cold sweat, desperate to protect someone, to help them and it was that feeling that scared her the most. The feeling that she had left someone behind, someone who needed her, someone who loved her. She had told her parents about this once and not knowing much about her past, or where she came from, they had tried their best to reassure her. They had reminded her that she was just 9-years-old when she came to live with them, a child, that she was the one who needed protecting – not the other way around.

"Hey," Judy Andrews smiled, stepping into her daughter's room.

"Hey," Charlie echoed.

Judy watched as her daughter's eyes once again glanced up to the picture. "Penny for them?"

"I was just thinking…"

Charlie trailed off, the last thing she wanted to do was upset her parents, to make them think that they weren't enough, that she didn't love them. But for more than half of her life she was someone else, someone else's child and that was a hole that no amount of love could ever fill.

Judy walked further into the room and sat on the teenager's bed, allowing the young girl a few minutes silence as she watched her contemplate her words, figure out a way to broach the subject. She knew what was troubling her daughter, she had seen her retreat further and further in to herself ever since her sixteenth birthday.

"You can ask me anything, you know that," Judy reassured her daughter. "And I promise I will answer any question you have as truthfully as I can, it's not like I never expected this day to come. I always did, and I don't feel threatened by it … or even saddened, you were 9-years-old when you became ours, not a baby like the boys where, you have memories and connections that it's only natural you would want to explore them," she explained, letting her daughter know that it was ok to feel the way she was feeling.

Charlie nodded, wiping her eyes she tied her hair up in a lose bun before walking over to the bed, picking up a pillow she sat at the top, leaning against her headboard and cradling the pillow in her lap. "What was my name? Because I know it wasn't always Charlotte I just … I don't remember what it was."

"We were never told," Judy began, turning around to face her daughter and crossing her legs in front of her. "Fostering you was different than any of the other times, it was … confusing in the way it happened, We were contacted by a fostering agency that we had worked with before, they had had a 9-year-old child, a child that had no name, no family yet was a high risk placement," she explained.

"What was different about that?" Charlie wondered. She knew her brothers were initially foster placements her parents had adopted; she also knew that there had been other foster children before her just like there had continued to be after her.

Judy considered her words very carefully, not really sure how to explain it to the teenager. "Your father and I had been fostering for a long time, almost a decade and we had adopted your brothers so we knew quite a bit about the system and how it worked; both private and government placements. A legal risk foster placement usually referred to one in which the parents legal rights were either in the process of being terminated, or there were some criminal proceeding occurring behind the scenes, we had been involved in both before so … we had some experience and it just didn't fit because … straight off the bat they gave as legal guardianship over you, said that if it was ok with us you could assume our name and that you had no first name … you were 9-years-old, you had to have been called something but they said you simply came into the system as Child M."

"Child M," Charlie cried, even though she was sure, somewhere deep inside of her that she had been called something else, something meaningful, she still found it hard to believe that a child would simply be given an initial to define almost a decade of their life.

"Yes," Judy nodded. "The minute you came into our home we fell in love with you. You were such a gentle, smart, polite and giving child so we agreed and you took our last name. We asked you that first night what your name was but you wouldn't tell us, we tried again the next day and you just closed your eyes and started counting in French so we asked you what you wanted to be called, you said that you wanted to be called Charlotte so … from that day forward you were Charlotte Andrews."

"I already spoke French when I came to you?" Charlie exclaimed, not sure why but for some reason she had assumed that she had learnt French after coming to them, after all she did attend one of the best schools in the state.

Judy couldn't help but smile at the memories of those first months and the time they had spent getting to know the little girl. How they realized that when she scared or upset, she would start speaking in French so perfect that you would have sworn it was her first language. "Yes. And Arabic," Judy added, remembering how the young girl would revert to the other language when she was angry or frustrated.

"Wow," Charlie breathed, shaking her head as she watched her mother's face begin to fill with memories of her early months with them.

"Like I said, you were a fantastically smart child, even then, when you first came to us. Which is something else that we found confusing; within a few months of you arriving it was clear you were well educated, had travelled somewhat and been raised with respect, manners and kindness which just didn't fit with the idea that you would then, after 9 years be abandoned in the system with no name," Judy said, trying to explain all of the mystery that surrounded Charlie's first years on earth.

Charlie bit her bottom lip. "Did they tell you anything else about me?"

"No," Judy said. "Just that you would never be legally free for adoption, which is the only reason why your father and I haven't adopted you. We've tried, every year we petition the court but every year we get the same response that despite being with us with for 7 years, despite no one else ever fighting for custody of you or trying to contact us you can never legally 100% be ours," Judy finished, her heart breaking at the idea that in the eyes of the law she still was not Charlie's mother.

"That's weird right?" Charlie exclaimed, her nose wrinkling in confusion. "Just like the name and the languages thing it just all seems so … weird, almost like I'm some big secret that was left with you guys to keep me hidden," she joked, not realizing just how close she was to the truth.

"It is all unusual," Judy agreed, not wanting her daughter to ever think there was anything weird about her.

Charlie lifted the pillow to her chest. "Do you think there is any way I will ever be able to find out where I come from? Where I spent my first 9 years?"

"There is one way," Judy began, she had considered keeping this part from Charlie, but she had never lied to her children before and she wasn't about to start now. "You have money, like … a large amount of money which again, was something we had never encountered before but you have a trust … we have only ever used it once; for your school fees because it was never about money, you are our daughter and we wanted to provide for you just like we did our other children but your intelligence, your … you … you deserved the best and we couldn't afford it so we used the trust, the rest is all sat there waiting for you when you turn 21," she explained watching as a mixture of confusion and shock colored the teenagers face.

Unable to quite believe what she was hearing Charlie shook her head, this was just getting stranger and stranger by the second, foster kids didn't have trust funds, children abandoned with no name didn't come with their own bank account that was just insane. "How much? Like … you know material stuff has never really bothered me but medical school is expensive and if I can get away with only having to take out small student loans then that's great so … how much do I get when I turn 21?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about student loans," Judy reassured her daughter, whilst also dancing around the truth.

Charlie eyed her mother. "Because I have …?"

"30 million pounds, that's er … English pounds so with the exchange rate being what it is now probably about … 40 million dollars," Judy replied, her voice barely audible over the sound of her own heart beating.

"Holy fuck," Charlie explained.

Judy's eyes glared towards her daughter. "Charlotte Marie Andrews. Language."

"Sorry," Charlie apologized. "It's just … I mean … I'm a foster kid with no name, yet not legally free for adoption despite no one trying to claim me for 7 years with a bank account worth 40 million dollars, you have to admit that's some fu … messed up blurb for an autobiography if ever there was one," she laughed, realizing that if she didn't laugh she would cry at the weirdness that had just become her life.

"You're not a foster kid Charlotte, not anymore, no matter what the courts say you are our daughter and we love you more than anything in the world," Judy reassured her daughter, moving up next to her and wrapping her arm around the teenager.

Charlie nodded. "I know. And as weird as the money thing is I don't understand how that might help me discover who I was?"

"The trust has a guarantor, someone that oversees it and makes sure it is safe and only used for your benefit until you turn 21. We had contact with her once, not long after you came to us, she offered us an allowance for your upkeep but we declined. Then again a few years later when we asked if they could pay the school fees from the trust … we contacted her a few other times to see if she could be of any help in our bid to adopt you, but she said that was outside her remit and she was just a financial advisor or something along those lines, she might be able to help you though, if you were the one to ask," Judy suggested.

"And you would be ok with that?" Charlotte worried.

Judy held her daughter closer. "Of course, we will help you in whatever way we can."

"Good because … I need to know. I love you guys so much, that will never change but I can feel it in every cell inside me that someone else loved me once, that I was wanted and loved and that … it's hard to explain but I feel like I was part of a team, I have this crazy feeling that my mother … birth mother … Mama," Charlie whispered, not sure where the last part had come from but realizing how right it felt. "That once upon a time it was us against the world and now … I'm here … and she's somewhere and … we were a team, I know we were and I need to know that she's ok even if I can't be in her life I need to find her, I need to let her know that I remember how safe she made me feel even if I don't remember her," Charlie cried, closing her eyes and trying to picture the voice that came with the emotions but again all she could hear was a distant echo.


	3. Chapter 3

.3.

As the plane prepared to descend into a tiny private airstrip just outside of Salem Frankie closed his laptop, considering how much information he should share with his sister. Leaning back, he watched her carefully, she had her head pressed to the window, her gaze fixed firmly on the landscape outside.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Frankie asked.

Slowly, Carly lifted her head from the window. "No. But I don't know if I ever will be," she admitted. "Last time I was in Salem things were so different; Nicky was still alive, and Lawrence was … someone I thought I could love."

"You're not alone, not anymore," Frankie tried to reassure his sister, as he thought back to the e-mail, he had received 48 hours ago.

After 2 weeks of not hearing anything he had finally received a response from the layer in Jordan he had contacted. A man by the name of Hamza Mustapha, a former law associate of Omer, the friend of Carly's who had arranged Edie's escape. The e-mail exchange had been short, but it had provided another clue. Hamza had revealed that a few months prior to Omer's death the lawyer had contacted him with a strange request, he wanted him to set up a trust fund in the United States to the sum of 30 million UK sterling. The fund was for a child that would be entering the foster system; Child M and was to be used for her upkeep until she turned 21 when the whole trust would be turned over to her.

After some initial reluctance Frankie was now almost a 100% certain that Child M was his niece, Carly's daughter. Although Hamza was unable to provide any more information than that he was able to supply Frankie with the name of a financial advisor in California that had been left in charge of the trust; a woman by the name of Louise Green who ran an office just outside of Oakland.

"I broke him when I left," Carly whispered, breaking the gentle silence of the plane as it started to taxi down the runway.

"He understood why you had to go," Frankie reminded her.

Carly closed her eyes, a headache starting to form. "Maybe. But when he finds out about Edie … that I kept his daughter from him, that I couldn't protect her … that she's out there somewhere … he's going to hate me."

"Carly," Frankie whispered, as the plane came to a stop and he undid his seatbelt, moving over to her seat and kneeling in front of her. "I'm not going to pretend that it's going to be easy, that Bo won't be hurt but when he knows why you did what you did, when he knows what you have been through he will understand," he tried to reassure her.

"No," Carly panicked, her voice high and full of fear. "He can't know, not all of it … what Lawrence did, the things he … Bo can never know, please Frankie promise me that you will never tell anyone, I know they are your family too but that part of my life, the things that happened after Nicky died and Edie left … they can never know," she cried, the idea of everyone knowing what she had been through, the situation she had found herself in terrified her. She didn't want them to think of her like that, she wanted them to think of her as the same person she was when she was last in Salem. Not the broken, isolated woman she had become in the years since.

Frankie reached up and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "Ok," he promised. "But Carly, they were your family once too, they would understand and want to help you get through this."

"They can't know, they can never know," Carly mumbled, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the plane door opening.

"You ready?" Frankie asked, as the pilot motioned for them to leave the plane.

Taking her brother's hand Carly chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Does anyone know we are coming?" she asked, as she followed him towards the waiting car service, watching as her small suitcase – a cabin sized bag that contained everything she had left in this world – was loaded into the trunk.

"No," Frankie breathed, as he opened the door for her to get in, waiting until she was seated before closing the door and walking around to the other side.

Carly tried to focus straight ahead as the car made its way through Salem towards the recently renovated lake cottage that Frankie had purchased. Despite her reluctance she couldn't help but move her gaze towards the window, surprised to find that with a few exceptions the town still felt familiar, giving her a monetary sense of safety.

"Is Jennifer still here?" Carly asked, leaning her head against the cool window.

"No," Frankie replied. "She's in London."

Carly couldn't help but feel disappointed to hear that her oldest and closest friend was no longer there, of course she knew people would have moved on, but Jennifer was such a big part of her life. "Oh," she sighed.

"I can call her," Frankie offered, sensing his sister's disappointment.

"No," Carly sighed. "Maybe one day, not now though."

Frankie considered his next words carefully for a few moments before speaking again. "Have you thought about how you are going to do this? I mean telling Bo. Are you going to wait until have more information on Edie's whereabouts before saying anything or are you going to tell him straight away?"

Whilst they were in Kenya, Frankie hadn't pushed Carly about her plans, instead he had just allowed her to spend the time getting better, stronger and learning to live outside again. That didn't mean he hadn't wanted to though, but he knew that the last thing she needed was for him to push her for answers, answers that she herself probably didn't even have yet.

"Do you know … what is his life like now?" Carly asked, finally asking the question she had been dreading ever since she had made the decision to go back to Salem.

"Complicated," Frankie admitted. "As you can imagine a lot has happened; Hope, his wife … she er, she wasn't dead, she came back and they were together, but things happened, and I think they are on a break right now."

Carly ran her hands tiredly through her hair. "Wow," she exclaimed, not really knowing what else to say.

"Everyone seems to think they will work it out," Frankie reluctantly added.

"That's good," Carly smiled. "Bo deserves to be happy, he's a good man."

Frankie grabbed her hand. "So do you."

"Bo and I are … the past, the only thing I need from him now is help getting Edie back, he is the father of my child nothing else, besides getting into a relationship … is not something I'm sure I will ever be able to do again," she admitted.

"Car-"

"Edie, all I need is Edie. I need my little girl Frankie, nothing else just … I need to know she's ok," Carly insisted, cutting off any argument he might have had as they pulled up in front of the cabin.

Stepping outside of the car Carly looked around, the cabin was 2 stories, white wood, pale blue doors and a wraparound porch, it was at the edge of the lake, secluded from most roads in and out of the main town.

"This is beautiful," she smiled, closing her eyes she could hear the rushing water as it whistled through the trees. After over a decade of being Lawrence's prisoner the idea that she could come and go as she pleased was still taking some getting used to.

Frankie wrapped his arm around her. "It's my gift to you."

"You didn't have to do that," Carly hummed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I have money. I can-"

"I want to," Frankie insisted.

Carly took a series of deep breaths before stepping inside, the door led straight into a large open plan room that has a lounge area with two oversized duck egg blue sofas, light grey walls and dark wood furniture, At the far end of the room it opened out into a kitchen area with a homely kitchen with all the modern appliances you would need.

"This is perfect Frankie, thank you," Carly whispered, running her hand softly along the sofa.

"I had someone come over and stock up the fridge, cupboards and everything else I could think of," he added.

Carly turned to face him; her eyebrows raised. "Someone?"

"Beth is in town," Frankie admitted.

"Why didn't you say?" Carly wondered, her stomach hurting at the fact her little brother felt he needed to protect her from his own happiness because her life was such a mess.

Frankie sat down on the sofa, motioning for Carly to sit down next to him. "I was worried about overwhelming you. Coming back to Salem is a big deal, telling Bo is going to be a big deal I didn't think you would need the added complication of someone new."

"Frankie, your wife is not a complication, from everything you have told me about her she sounds like the complete opposite. A kind, loving, funny person, someone who I would love to meet," Carly reassured him.

"You sure?" Frankie needed to know.

Carly squeezed his hand. "It's pretty much the only thing I am sure of right now. Where is she?"

"She's staying at the Salem Inn," Frankie answered.

"She should stay here, she's your wife Frankie I really want to get to know her," Carly offered.

Frankie studied his sister's face carefully, looking for any sign that she was just telling him what she thought he would want to hear, but all he saw was sincerity. "Ok. But tonight … you and I are going to eat the pie Beth left, devour the ice cream and watch trashy movies. Tomorrow I will call Beth. Deal?"

"Deal," Carly agreed. "Did I hear something about pie?"

"Want me to heat it up?" Frankie offered, pleased that over the course of the last few weeks Carly's appetite had been coming back more and more with each passing day.

Nodding Carly leaned back against the sofa, grabbing the remote control she turned the TV on and navigated it towards the menu as she heard Frankie get started in the kitchen. As she smiled at the sound, she allowed herself to believe, for the first time in a long time, that perhaps everything would be ok.

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

The Java Café was almost empty as Bo entered for his early coffee, ever since Hope had moved out and taken Ciara with him he hadn't had the energy, or frame of mind to go shopping so he was currently running on fuel provided only by the local coffee store.

"Usual?" the barista asked.

Bo nodded. "Thanks," he smiled as he picked up a free copy of the paper, sitting down his heart nearly skipped a beat as he spotted a familiar face staring back at him.

**LAWRENCE ALAMAIN'S DEATH LEAVES WIDOW WORLD'D RICHEST WOMAN. **

**_The shocking death of Lawrence Alamain (49) has quickly catapulted his widow Katerina 'Carly' Alamain of the Von Leuschner family to the status of the World's richest woman. _**

_The death of Lawrence Alamain has left the small Middle Eastern country of Alamaina in mourning after he died of a brain aneurysm. However, one question that remains on the lips of most people is where the late Mrs. Alamain is, Katerina, 47 has not been seen since her husband's funeral as the whole country remains in mourning. _

_The Alamain family are no strangers to tragedy with the couple suffering the devastating loss of their only son Nickolas just days before his thirteenth birthday after the teenager lost his battle with leukemia. Since the tragic loss the family had rarely been seen together in public instead releasing periodic photos of the couple and their only remaining child; the now 16-year-old Eden Isabelle Alamain, sole heir to both her mother and father's fortunes. _

Putting the paper down Bo sighed heavily, although as the years went on and his memories of his time with Carly became an even more distant memory, he still thought about her often. About how she was one of the only women in his life that had ever accepted him for who he was and never tried to change him. Of how easy loving her, being loved by her and being with her was.

A few times over the last 17 years he had found himself googling her name, desperate to know that she was ok but the news was scarce, so scarce in fact that this was the first he was hearing of Nicky's death, and the birth of Carly and Lawrence's second child.

"Carly," he whispered, wondering where she was and how she was doing. He knew that his mother spoke to Frankie on an almost weekly basis, he would have to ask her if Frankie had mentioned anything about Carly recently.

Opening the paper Bo found his gaze drawn to the top right-hand corner where a picture of Lawrence, Carly, Nicky and Eden was printed. It was an old picture, obviously taken before Nicky fell ill as the smiling pre-teen stood in between his parents, his toddler sister resting happily on her mother's hip. "She's a mini Carly," he whispered his eyes lingering over the image of the small child as he tried not to let his mind wander too far into the what ifs.

His life with Carly felt like so many lifetimes ago that he couldn't quite understand why hearing the news about Nicky, her daughter and Lawrence had affected him so much.

"Everything ok?" Roman asked, sitting down opposite his brother.

Bo held up the paper. "Did you know about Alamain?"

Roman nodded. "Ma mentioned something."

"And she didn't think I would want to know?" Bo practically shouted.

Raising his hand to get the baristas attention Roman ordered a coffee and another one for his brother. "I think she probably thought you had enough going on with Hope and Ciara without her adding to it."

"I guess," Bo agreed, still slightly frustrated that he had to find out about it all in the papers. "How did Ma find out? Frankie?"

"Yeah," Roman replied. "If you want to find out more, I think she said that he and Beth are headed to Salem for a visit soon," he added.

Bo shook his head, trying to figure why, after all these years the mere mention of Carly Manning, or should that be Carly Alamain's name left him feeling so confused. "Right. I bet Ma is excited, she hasn't seen them since the wedding."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Roman asked, watching the storm clouds that were practically raging in his brother's eyes.

"It's just, Carly and I were friends before we were together and I care about her you know, even after all these years so … she lost her son, had a baby and now her husband is dead," Bo sighed. "I just hate the idea of her going through it all alone you know?"

Roman was quiet for a few minutes before speaking. "Seems like you still have a lot in common. You lost a son too, had a daughter, 2 daughters .."

"I still have Hope though," Bo concluded.

"You still have Hope," Roman echoed.

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

Charlie had moved to Oakland, California when she was 9 years old and from the moment she had entered the Andrew's home she had not only fallen in love with them, but with the town as well. She loved how close they were to so many amazing places, she loved the sights, the smells but most of all she loved the small hidden art galleries, music stores and parks that she could spend hours exploring.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Judy asked, as she watched Charlie double check her hair in the mirror.

"Would you be upset if I said no?" Charlie worried.

Judy shook her head. "Of course not, just make sure you check in ok?"

"Ok. Love you," Charlie smiled, wrapping her arms around her mother and pulling her into a hug before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

She had already googled the address multiple times, checked the bus routes, double checked them and then made sure she also had a backup route just in case something went wrong. She needed today to go ok, she needed answers and she needed them soon because ever since her sixteenth birthday she had been unable to silence the little voice in her head that was telling her that she needed to go back to her past.

Putting her headphones on, she selected her favorite playlist as she started on her journey, a journey that took 2 buses and a short walk but finally 45 minutes later she was at the door of a tall office building that was all glass and shiny windows.

Taking out the piece of paper from her jeans pocket she double checked the name before scanning the list of offices, the one she needed was on the third floor. Stepping into the building she pressed the button for the elevator, her foot tapping nervously in the few moments it took for it to arrive.

"3 … 3 … Louise Green … Child M …," she muttered under her breath, trying to remind herself why she was here and what she was doing.

The elevator took just a few seconds to arrive on the third floor, as Charlie secretly wished she had taken the stairs at least that way she would have more time to prepare herself. After all, if Louise didn't have any answers then she was lost, after here she had nowhere to go in her quest for her birth mother.

"Hello," a voice started, echoing around the room. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm here to see Louise Green, I need to speak to her about my trust er … she's in charge of it," Charlie began, not really sure what to say.

The lady behind the desk nodded. "Name."

"Charlotte Andrews but er she might know me as Child … M," Charlie stammered, realizing how weird it might sound to a stranger the minute the words left her mouth.

Immediately sensing the young girls ease the receptionist decided not to ask any further questions and instead head back to see if her boss was free. "Let me check for you."

Entering the large, round office Trisha – the receptionist – waited for Louise to finish on the phone before speaking, "Hey," she smiled, her heart fluttering at the sight of her boss.

"Hey," Louise echoed.

"Er, there's a young girl outside to see you, she said her name is Charlotte Andrews but that you might know her as Child M … or something as strange as that, she wants to talk to you about a trust," Trisha explained.

Louise raised her perfectly manicured eyebrows. "How strange."

"I know right, Child M, I thought that was bit strange too," Trisha said, stepping further into the room.

Louise shook her head. "Not the Child M thing, I knew about that years ago it's just … I've been the executor of that trust for 7 years now and only ever heard from the foster parents about it but then today some American lawyer calls me out of the blue, says his sister set the trust up for his niece who needed to be hidden because she was in danger and now … she's here," Louise frowned.

"Weird," Trisha agreed.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Louise muttered. "Show her in."

Walking back out into the lobby Trisha informed Charlie that Louise was free to see her, counting to 10 under her breath she waited until her breathing was steady before walking into the office.

"Thank you for seeing me," Charlie said, as Louise motioned for her to sit down opposite.

"That's ok. How can I help you?" Louise asked, opening up the conversation as she had immediately sensed the young girl's nervousness.

Charlie played with the edges of her sweater, something she only did when she was nervous. "I should probably get straight to the point, right?"

"That's always a good plan," Louise agreed.

"I'm trying to find my birth family, or just discover anything about where I came from really. You see I came to live with my parents 7 years ago when I was 9 and I had no name, no anything just … all this money, which I only found out about the other day. I guess what I'm asking is can you help me. I was 9 and I should remember stuff, but I don't, I don't even remember my name and … I would like to know more about my life before Oakland," Charlie explained.

Louise felt her heart breaking for the young girl, she couldn't imagine being left with a new family at 9 years old, with no memory of who you were, no name and no links to your past. She had barely had a few minutes to process the email she had received and decide what she was going to do but something told her that it was ok. That Frankie Brady was genuine and from the quick google search she had done all reports seemed to back up those instincts.

His email had virtually begged for help, so much so that she could practically hear the desperation in his voice as she read the black printed words. Sense how desperate he was to help his sister find closure now the danger was over.

"My parents know I'm here," Charlie announced, sensing Louise's reluctance. "You can ring them if you like."

"It's ok," Louise reassured her, the words drawn out and longer than they needed to be.

Charlie could see that the older woman was battling with some reluctance. "You know something don't you?"

"Yes," she finally admitted.

"Please," Charlie pleaded. "Help me put the pieces together."

Louise nodded; her eyes bright with unshed tears as she heard the absolute heart break in the young girl's voice. "Edie. That was your name before you came to Oakland."

"Edie," Charlie whispered, her voice catching on the word that felt so alien yet familiar at the same time. "Edie Boo … I remember … I can hear her voice saying it, my Mama … she had such a beautiful voice."

Louise watched as the young girl seemed to get lost in her memories. "I don't know your second name. I just … my friend Hamza, he begged me to oversee your trust at the time he didn't tell me anything more than your name and that for reasons he couldn't tell me you had to enter the American foster system," Louise explained.

"So, I wasn't born in America?" Charlie surmised.

"I don't think so, I'm not 100% sure though," Louise shrugged. "Hamza is Jordanian, and he was acting on behalf of a client of his from the Middle East, he didn't say where though. He said it was a devastating situation, that your mother loved you very, very much but that it wasn't safe for you to stay there. He said that she needed to be sure that you would be well looked after until … the time came when she could find you," Louise explained.

Charlie wiped furiously at her eyes, desperate not to cry. "She never came, is she …. Is she alive?"

"I think so," Louise whispered, wanting to reach out and reassure the girl but worried that she would fall completely apart.

"Do you know where she is?" Charlie asked, not sure if she was ready to hear the answer.

Louise looked down, not wanting to see the look in Charlie's eyes. "No."

"Oh," Charlie felt her heart break all over again, whilst it was some comfort to know that she was loved, wanted and to put a name to her past none of that meant anything if there was no way for her to find her mother, to know that she was ok.

"I have the contact details for her brother though," Louise said, her words rushed as she feared that if she didn't say it now she would lose her nerve.

Charlie looked up, her eyes bright with hope. "You do?"

"Yes. His name is Frankie Brady and I have his email and cellphone," Louise explained, opening up her laptop she copied down the details and handed them to her, hoping that her instincts were right and that this Frankie Brady was a good man, who only wanted the best for the young girl sat opposite her, clutching the small piece of paper to her chest as if it was the only thing keeping her alive.


	4. Chapter 4

.4.

Sitting in the small café Charlie cautiously typed the name into the search engine, grateful that her parents had relented and let her have the new iPhone for her birthday. Pressing the search button, she held her breath until finally the page loaded.

There were multiple results for Frankie Brady but the most promising one seemed to be a lawyer out of New York City, searching for more about him she discovered that he did a lot of bro-bono work, was highly invested in humanitarian work and had recently gotten married. Reassured so far with what she had found she then added sister into the search engine to see if anything would come up. At first all she could find was a few articles about the wedding and his new sister-in-law who was an actress on Broadway.

She was about to give up when something a few pages down caught her eyes. "When money doesn't buy happiness; the truth behind the 10 richest families."

Clicking on the link Charlie scrolled down, she recognized a few of the names from the likes of TV, newspapers and magazines but there was a few that were unfamiliar, she couldn't see a Brady in the top 10 though. Ignoring the ones she knew like the British Royal Family, Bill Gates and some others she started to read about a Russian family, getting all the way to the end she couldn't see any mention of a Frankie, Frank or anything vaguely close to it so moved on to the next one.

"Brady," she whispered, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. "Brady Blood, bad Brady Blood," she stammered, barely able to believe the words she was saying as she unburied them from her distant memories.

Putting the phone down she was tempted to stop her mini investigation and just ring the number that Louise had given her, but Charlie had waited a long time for this and she needed to be prepared, she needed to find out as much information as possible before opening herself to what could potentially be a whole world of hurt.

Opening Safari up again she continued to scroll down the page until she saw something that caught her eye. It was about the Von Leuschner family, a European dynasty that had one of the largest net worth's in the world. As she read from the beginning she read about a family that had survived for centuries, through wars, recessions, family feuds and tragic losses before she got to who held the current fortune; a Katerina Alamain, the last remaining heir to the Von Leuschner fortune along with her brother; Francois, who now went by the name of Frankie Brady and was a lawyer in New York.

"Katerina Alamain," Charlie whispered, the name sounding alien and not at all familiar unlike Edie which had invoked feelings of love and safety in her.

"Katerina," she repeated. "Katerina … My Darling Katerina," Charlie whispered, as she heard a voice echo in her head, a voice that came with a real mix of emotions from love, to fear.

Opening up her phone she typed Katerina Alamain into the search engine, surprised to see a very recent article from the New York Post, the same article that unbeknownst to her, her biological father was reading just hours earlier.

Scanning the article her eyes stopped on the picture of the young family. "Oh My God," she exclaimed, her voice a lot louder than she intended as she ran her hand over the image of her 2-year-old self.

"Eden, Edie, Edie Boo … Nicky … NikNak …," she smiled as she found herself remembering the nickname, she had given her beloved older brother.

Running her finger over her mother's face she closed her eyes as she found herself transported back to a moment almost 8 years ago now.

_"Edie Boo," Carly sung as she walked into the sunroom to find her almost 9-year-old sat reading. _

_Edie put the book down and looked up. "Bonjour."_

_Looking outside Carly could almost feel the sun on her face. "Let's go for a walk," she suggested as she walked over to her daughter and placed a kiss atop her soft, dark curls. _

_"But what about Papa?" Edie panicked, her mind going back to his angry face and shaking hands of just a few nights earlier. "He doesn't like it when we leave the house." _

_"Papa is away," Carly reassured the young girl, her heart breaking about the fact her child had to be worrying about things that no 8-year-old ever should. "And we'll stick to the gardens, it's such a beautiful day, come on Boo." _

_Edie placed a marker into the book and stood up. "Ok," she agreed, loving the warm smile that was spread across her mother's face and knowing she would do anything to keep it there._

_Walking out into the large entrance room Edie opened a cupboard and took out a pair of boots, they were starting to get a little small, and she probably needed a new pair but she knew better than to ask, her Papa didn't like it when she asked for things and he always took it out on her Mama. _

_"You ready?" Carly asked, taking hold of her daughter's hand as they headed out into the large, walled off garden, knowing that if they even dared to leave the confines of the estate dozens of guards would be on their tail. _

_"Ready," Edie smiled, holding tight to her mother's hand, even though she was 8-years-old she still liked the comfort it brought, the feeling of her hand in the much larger one made her feel safe, it made her feel like when they were together they could do get through anything. _

_For hours they walked through the gardens, talking about everything from plants, to butterflies until finally they came to a stop at the lake, sitting down on a fallen tree Carly wrapped her arms around her daughter. "You know it won't always be like this Boo, one day, hopefully soon you and I will be somewhere else, some place without walls and locked doors, without guards and-"_

_"Papa," Edie finished for her. "Without Papa." _

_"Yes," Carly agreed, her breath catching in her throat._

_Edie looked up at her mother, a small faded bruise sat under her eyes and she could see that she was in pain whenever she made a sudden move. "I'm sorry Mama, sorry I let him hurt you." _

_"No, no, no," Carly whispered into the little girl's ear. "You are not to blame for anything your Papa does, you hear me? You are … without a doubt the greatest gift in my life, you are the reason I smile, the one thing that gets me up every day, you are everything that is good and light in this world Edie Boo … don't you ever let anyone tell you any different," she assured her. _

_Edie nodded. "I love you Mama." _

_"I love you too," Carly returned peppering her head with kisses. _

_They sat in silence for a few minutes before Edie was the first to speak. "Where will we go?" _

_"Mexico," Carly smiled, her mind wandering back to happier times. _

_"Why Mexico?" Edie wondered. _

_Carly considered her answer for a moment before speaking. "Because it's where happiness lives." _

_"Will Papa be able to find us in Mexico?" Edie worried. _

_"No, and when we get there … we will have to choose a new name … a new name for a new beginning," Carly informed her daughter, hoping that despite her young years she would understand. "When we leave Alamaina we will have to leave all that we were and all that we knew behind, I know it's difficult to understand but when you are older I promise you will," she vowed._

_Edie nodded. "Can I be Charlotte?" _

_"Charlotte? Why Charlotte?" Carly wondered. _

_"Because it's my favorite book; Charlotte's Web," Edie explained, as if it was the simplest request in the world. _

_Carly held her daughter closer, ignoring the pain it sent through her bruised ribs and stomach. "I think it's perfect." _

_"What about you Mama? What name will you chose?" Edie asked. _

_"Why don't you choose a name for me?" Carly suggested. _

_Edie's eyebrows knitted together as she considered her options. "Jennifer," she announced after a long silence. "Because that was Miss Honey's name in Matilda, and she gets a happy new start too. But Mama … will I still be able to call you Mama? Because that's my favorite name for you." _

_"Of course, Boo," Carly reassured her. "And you know what? Mama is my favorite name too." _

As the memory disappeared Charlie was left with nothing but a feeling of emptiness and loss, trying to work out why after 7 years of nothing her memories were now suddenly so clear. Before they had just been abstract feelings of love, loss, safety and longing but now, she could remember the way her mother's arms felt, the smell of her skin, the sound of her laughter as they played table tennis on the long, grand table when he was out of town.

"Mama," she whispered, desperate to know that she was ok, that she was safe.

The article had said that she was at the funeral; Papa's funeral, just over a short while ago so surely that had to mean that she was ok. And now that he was gone Charlie knew, that her mother was safe, that she was free and that without a doubt, somewhere, some place she was looking for her.

As she smiled at the memories of her, she couldn't help but feel guilty, she had a mother and father now, parents that loved her, protected her and guided her. She didn't want to hurt them, abandon them and forget everything they had ever done for her but the longing inside her was so strong. She needed to find her mother, she needed to hold her tight and tell her that it was ok, that she understands why she let her go and that she never forgot how much she loved her, even if for a little while she forgot who she was.

Picking her phone up again she carefully entered each number, her mouth going dry and her palms sweaty as it started to ring, after just 3 dials a strange, male voice answered.

"Hello, Frankie Brady speaking," the voice said.

Charlie was unable to speak as the voice on the end repeated the greeting for a second and third time, each time the tone getting more frustrated.

"Hello," Charlie stammered, knowing if she didn't speak now she never would. "Er, hello … my name is … I'm Charlie, Charlotte Andrews but you er … you might now me as Edie … Eden Alamain."

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

As Frankie parked the car just up the road from the Brady Pub he turned to face his sister, all the color she had recently got back into her features had disappeared and her hands were shaking. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?" he asked.

Carly nodded. "Yes. I just need a minute."

"We don't have to do it this way, Beth can come to the house," Frankie suggested.

"I just want to get it over with" Carly began to explain. "I mean I just spent most of the last 2 decades being locked away. I'm done hiding Frankie … even if it is only my own fears that are keeping me hidden away now," she finished, the last bit so quiet Frankie barely heard her.

Frankie held her hand. "I understand, it's like pulling off a band aid right?"

"But as a doctor I'm telling you that ripping off the band aid hurts," Carly chuckled nervously.

"Just for a little while," Frankie remembered. "Then the pain is gone."

Watching the door of the pub Carly sighed. "Is everyone in there?"

"I don't know," Frankie admitted. "Beth and Kayla are there but otherwise I have no idea, he might be there, he might not."

"I wasn't asking about anyone in particular," Carly glared at him as she finally stepped out of the car.

Frankie looped his arm through hers. "I know. But I also know how hard that moment is going to be for you," he admitted.

Slowly they walked towards the pub, Carly using every last bit of strength she had to continue putting one foot in front of the other without turning and running.

"I'm here and I won't leave your side until you force me to," Frankie promised her as he opened the door and followed Carly inside.

Frankie had almost expected the whole pub to go silent when they walked in, just like it did in the movies and on TV. But the reality was far from that, when they walked in conversations continued, music played, and glasses clinked. Looking around he smiled realizing that there were so many unfamiliar faces that the significance of the 2 new faces was lost on them.

"Frankie," a tall, brown eyed, brown haired brunette greeted.

"Hey," Frankie smiled, wrapping his arms around her and placing a soft gentle kiss on her lips. "I missed you."

Beth released his lips. "Missed you too," she murmured into his ear.

Frankie reached behind him and took Carly's hand pulling her closer to them. "Beth. I'd like you to meet Carly; my big sister."

Beth didn't waste a second before she stepped forward and wrapped the other woman in a large, welcoming hug before releasing her. "It's so fantastic to finally meet you. Frankie talks about you so much that I feel like we have been friends forever."

"It's lovely to meet you too," Carly agreed, feeling instantly welcomed by Beth's warm nature.

Taking Carly's hand from Frankie the younger woman led her over to the table where she had been sitting talking to Kayla.

"Oh My God, Carly Manning," Kayla exclaimed, getting up and hugging her old friend, feeling slightly surprised when Carly's body stiffened slightly in her hold. "It's been long, far too long, I'm so sorry to hear about Lawrence and Nicky … oh Carly …"

Beth could immediately sense that her sister-in-law was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. "Kayla. How about we let Carly breath, I'm sure you will have all the time in the world to catch up but right now … I'd like to properly meet my new sister-in-law."

"Ok, ok," Kayla relented, heading over to the bar to order some drinks as Caroline came out from the back room.

"Thank you," Carly mouthed, sitting down opposite Beth.

Beth returned the smile. "Anytime," she promised.

"Carly Manning," a familiar voice shouted from behind.

Frankie, Beth and Carly all turned around as Caroline Brady headed towards them, followed closely by Kayla and Roman.

"Brace yourself," Frankie whispered into Carly's ear as he got up to hug his mother.

"No welcome for me?" Frankie joked as he wrapped his arms around her.

Caroline affectionately nudged her son. "I saw you a few months ago. Carly it's been what 16? 17 years?"

"Something like that," Carly smiled tightly, plastering on a fake smile because the last thing she needed was for people to start asking deeper questions than they already would.

Frankie's eyes never left his sister, something that wasn't lost on Roman. "Welcome back," he greeted, trying not to feel suspicious of Carly's timing, after all Bo and Hope had just split up, he thought, until he caught himself when he remembered that Carly's husband had just died and she probably just wanted to be with her brother right now.

"What brings you back after all these years?" Kayla asked.

Frankie glared at his adoptive sister. "Kayla," he warned.

"I'm sorry about Lawrence," Caroline apologized.

Carly nodded, trying to hide her emotions behind a mask of indifference. "Thank you."

"And Nicky," Caroline added. "I had no idea that Nicky had … well not until I read about Lawrence. And you have a little girl, congratulations, is she here?"

"How did…"

Carly trailed off as Roman held up a copy of the New York Post. "Oh," she breathed. "She's er … not here and she's not so little anymore," she smiled sadly.

"Eden was it?" Caroline asked.

"Yes. Well … Edie," Carly corrected.

Frankie could see that Carly was really starting to struggle with all of the questions about Edie, shooting Beth a desperate look his shoulders deflated helplessly.

"We should be heading off," Beth began. "Our appointment at the salon is in 15 minutes and if we are late, they will give the appointment away to a walk-in so …" she motioned to everyone gathered around them. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time to catch up over the coming days."

Carly nodded along with Beth, grateful beyond belief for the woman even though she had just met her. "Of course, you're right. I totally forgot."

"I can drive you," Frankie offered.

Beth held up her hand. "No, we're good. I can drive."

Immediately Frankie sensed that Beth wanted to spend some time alone with Carly, to get to know her sister-in-law, the woman she had spent the last 8 years hearing nothing but wonderful things about. A part of Frankie was reluctant, after all he had only told his wife little bits and pieces about what had happened to her, the traumas she had endured not wanting to overwhelm her.

"We'll see you at the house," Carly added, reassuring Frankie that she was ok without him.

Watching as the two most important women in his life left Frankie found himself fielding questions from his family about his sister's return, Lawrence's death and the whereabouts of her daughter. He was starting to run out of excuses when he was saved by the ringing of his cellphone. Looking down at the screen her frowned, trying to figure out who could be calling him.

"Hello. Frankie Brady speaking," he answered, finding himself met with nothing but silence on the other end. Wondering if perhaps it was a bad connection he repeated himself. "Hello. Frankie Brady speaking," again he was met with silence.

Beginning to get frustrated Frankie repeated himself for a third time, his voice tinged with obvious frustration. "Frankie Brady speaking."

There was a few more moments of silence and Frankie was about to hang-up when a tentative voice began to speak. "Hello," a shy female voice began. "Er, hello … my name is … I'm Charlie, Charlotte Andrews," she continued, her voice stammering and uncertain as Frankie tried to put a face to a name but found himself coming up blank before the faceless voice on the other end dropped the biggest surprise of all.

"But you er … you might know me as Edie … Eden Alamain."

DOOL – DOOL – DOOL

Sitting by the edge of the water Carly gratefully accepted the takeaway cup from Beth, leaning back against the bench as she took a small sip.

"Frankie tells me you're a cardiothoracic surgeon," she remembered, opening the conversation.

Beth nodded, taking a sip of her own coffee. "Yep. And he said you were a doctor too, trauma surgeon, right?"

"In another life, yes," Carly sighed. "I haven't practiced for a long time though."

"You can always recertify though right?" Beth suggested.

Carly smiled tiredly. "Yeah, I started looking into it a few days ago but I would have to find a hospital willing to take a risk and then there's the hours of practice I would have to put in and the exams it's just all pretty … overwhelming," she admitted not really sure what it was about Beth but there was something about the young surgeon that made her feel at ease and willing to open up, more so than she had with anyone in a very long time.

"Not impossible though," Beth ventured. "I mean from everything I have heard about your skills as a doctor any hospital would be lucky to have you."

"I haven't ruled it out completely there's just some other things I need to sort out first," Carly sighed, her mind almost constantly on her daughter, wondering where she was, what she was doing, if she was ok but most of all if she still remembered her.

Beth watched as Carly seemed to get lost in own mind somewhere, somewhere very far from where they are. "You know, I'm a pretty good listener," she offered.

Biting her bottom lip, she closed her eyes for a few minutes before looking up and facing her sister-in-law. "How much has Frankie told you about everything … about my life."

"Bits and pieces," Beth admitted. "Over the years he … used to talk about you all the time. His big sister, the doctor he … you are without a doubt the most important person in the world to him. But as the years went on and his letters and calls were never returned he stopped talking and then when your husband died and he went to see you he told me that things were complicated and he didn't even know where to really start explaining and even if he should because it wasn't his story to tell and that hopefully, in time, as we got to know each other you might feel able to let me in," she explained.

Grateful that Frankie was respecting her privacy but at the same time feeling bad that her brother was keeping things from his wife because of her Carly nodded. "My life is … was … has been, somewhat of a really messed up Greek tragedy. But my marriage to Lawrence was the biggest mistake of all; I should never have left with him but at the time I thought I wanted what he was offering; a 2 parent family for my son but I very quickly realized that I wasn't in love with him, just the idea of giving my son what I never had. And then Nicky died … AML … and Lawrence turned and in the middle of it all was my little girl; Edie."

"Frankie never mentioned a daughter," Beth said.

"He didn't know, when Edie was born things were a mess, Lawrence had been ill, and the infection damaged his frontal lobe. Suddenly all of the … everything he had tried to suppress was there he couldn't control certain things and he couldn't deal with the fact that she wasn't his, that I had a daughter with someone else and even though I wasn't with him when I fell pregnant her mere existence was like an insult to him," Carly explained.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Beth breathed, her heart breaking for the other woman.

Carly's eyes started to water over as she wiped at them with her sleeve. "After Nicky died the resentment turned into something else. He could barely be in the same room as her and the older she got the harder it started to get; I mean how do you explain to a child that the man she believed is her Papa hates her for just existing. Life was … difficult and then Lawrence became fixated on us having a baby, on having an heir to his empire that was half him and half me, but I had really difficult pregnancies with both Nicky and Edie and my body wasn't as strong as it used to be. Nothing happened, but he wouldn't quit … we must have been to 14 different IVF specialists in 14 different countries and eventually I fell pregnant; it wasn't to be though; at 22 weeks he … it was too early."

Watching as the other woman struggled with her emotions Beth didn't know what to say, or even if there was anything, she could say to make the situation better. She couldn't even imagine what it must have been like, grieving your son, losing a baby, trying to protect your daughter whilst being completely alone and isolated.

"I'm not a bad person. I promise but when he was born and … I didn't feel anything because he didn't feel like mine, I was just part of Lawrence's master plan and my body wasn't mine and the baby … he didn't feel like mine and I didn't feel anything. Lawrence just … broke, any control he had was gone and Edie started to become a target … I couldn't let her pay for our mistakes so we had to leave, but something happened, and I couldn't go but Edie could so … I sent her away, I had to, to save her and …. I haven't seen her since," Carly cried, as Beth wrapped her arms around her, both woman feeling that despite not knowing each other for long, that in that moment a bond had formed between them that could never be broken.

"With Lawrence dead, your daughter … she's safe now right so you can bring her home, well back to you," Beth wondered.

Carly looked down at her hands. "I would. If I knew where she was but she's out there somewhere and I have no idea if I will ever see her again," she cried, completely oblivious to the fact that just a few miles away Frankie was making plans to make Carly's greatest wish come true.


	5. Chapter 5

.5.

Picking up a stone Carly skimmed it across the water, watching as it bounced 7 times before sinking out of sight. "You know I've never told anyone what I told you, about being pregnant after Nicky died … not even Frankie. Not because I didn't want to, but I guess I was worried that people would judge because we're supposed to feel a certain way, right? it's supposed to be natural and … there without even having to try."

"I think people like to believe that, but the truth is some things are harder than they are supposed to be and sometimes life just … sucks, for lack of a better word," Beth chuckled bitterly. "But that aside I'm really honored that you felt you could trust me with that."

"You know, most people would run a mile from a family that came with as much baggage as ours," Carly laughed.

Beth put her now empty coffee cup down. "I love your brother. More than I ever felt possible and he loves you more than anything in this world so that makes you someone that is very, very important to me."

"Do you have a large family?" Carly asked, realizing that other than the fact she was a doctor and she liked to cook she didn't really know anything about Beth.

"Yes and no," Beth hummed. "My mother and father both come from very large families; my mother is 1 of 7 and my father is 1 of 6 but it's just me and 2 sisters; both Broadway actresses, like my parents, I guess you could say I'm the black sheep."

Carly couldn't help but laugh, a real, amused laugh. "I'm not sure any parents would class a cardiothoracic surgeon as a black sheep."

"Maybe black sheep is a bit of an exaggeration but let's just say they don't exactly understand my job … or me, my world is just so different to theirs," Beth sighed.

"Their loss, any mother would be proud to have you as a daughter," Carly assured her.

Beth watched as Carly skimmed another stone across the water, she had heard bits and pieces of Carly's life in Salem from various members of Frankie's adoptive family. She knew that Carly was engaged to Bo, best friends with Jennifer Horton and close to most of the Brady family, she also knew, without Frankie saying anything, that there must have been a reason she had decided to come back to Salem, when she had the means to travel anywhere in world. Somewhere new, somewhere without memories around every corner. After all she couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for her, being back, seeing how everybody's lives had moved on.

"If I'm overstepping, I'm sorry," Beth began. "But you said that Edie wasn't your husband's daughter, that you were pregnant before … now I have heard bits and pieces … people like to talk in this town … and I was wondering, you and Bo were …"

"Bo is her father, yes," Carly admitted.

Picking up a stone Beth ran her fingers over the smooth edge before skimming it across the water. "Does he know?"

"No," Carly croaked. "I didn't know, not when I left anyway … and by the time I found out everything was already such a horrible mess that … I wanted to tell him, every single day. The longer it went on the harder it became, I tried to contact him once. I wanted him to take Edie, to keep her safe, if she couldn't be with me then she should be with him but Lawrence found out and he threatened to have him killed so," her shoulders started to shake with quiet, gentle sobs as she rested her head in her hands.

The women sat in silence as the sun started set over the lake turning the sky a beautiful shade of orange that reflected off the water, giving an almost magical quality to the peace of the moment.

"Hey," Frankie greeted quietly, not wanting to startle his sister having seen how on edge she had been.

Wiping at her eyes Carly looked up at her brother. "Hey," she echoed.

"You got a minute?" he asked, motioning towards Beth.

Beth glanced over towards Carly. "You going to be ok?"

"Yeah," Carly nodded. "I think I might just sit out here for a little bit, enjoy the change of scenery."

Getting up Beth followed Frankie into the house. "I should start on dinner, you ok to chop and talk at the same time?"

"Everything ok?" Frankie asked, referencing his sisters obvious tear-stained face and somber mood.

"We were getting to know each other," Beth explained, starting to unload vegetables from the fridge. "Carly was filling in a few gaps for me. She's a pretty amazing woman your sister, I mean I knew she probably would be with the way everyone had spoken about her but … I don't think I have ever met a single person who has faced so much, lost so much, suffered so much yet still believed in the goodness of people."

Walking over to the sink Frankie started to wash some potatoes. "I just wish I could have protected her more. I knew something wasn't right, Carly never would have cut me off like that, not by choice and the information I could get was, unsettling, but I … I should have fought harder."

"You're here now," Beth pointed out. "And together, as a family we will help her get through this, help her take control of her life again."

Dumping the washed potatoes into a pot, Frankie moved over to the large island in the center of the kitchen, pulling out a stool he sat down, took his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table. "On that note; I had a very interesting phone conversation today."

_"But you er … you might know me as Edie … Eden Alamain."_

_As the word's seemed to hang in the air Frankie's mind raced a thousand miles a minute, unable to quite believe what he was hearing and wondering if perhaps this was all some sick joke. It had been just a matter of hours since he had sent the e-mail to Louise Green, the financial advisor he had been put in touch with and now here he was, receiving a phone call from some young girl claiming to be his long-lost niece. Surely it wasn't that easy. _

_"Hello?" Charlie stammered, when she received no response. _

_"I'm here," Frankie reassured her. "Just … one minute, I need to go somewhere a little more private," he explained, aware that he was currently surrounded by multiple sets of prying ears. _

_Charlie nodded, even though he couldn't see her as she leaned back in the oversized coffee shop chair, her phone in one hand and a mocha in the other. _

_Meanwhile in Salem Frankie looked around, spotting an empty bench he made his way over to it, sitting down he took a series of deep breaths before speaking, after all the conversation he was about to have could be one of the most important moments of his life. _

_"Sorry about that," he apologized. _

_"That's ok," Charlie breathed. _

_"How did you get this number?" Frankie wondered, realizing as soon as the words were out of his mouth how rude they might come across. "Sorry I didn't mean it to come out like that it's just I wasn't expecting this, at least not so soon," he admitted. _

_As she thought back on the short series of events that had led her to this moment Charlie felt her eyes start to glaze over, she could understand his hesitation, after all she hadn't expected it to be this easy either, not now that she was remembering more and more about her life before, her life as Edie. "It was my 16th birthday a few weeks ago," she began. "And something about that milestone, about turning 16 … it … I needed to know … more, about where I came from, who I was before. My memories were gone, almost like they had been wiped away, but I knew that someone loved me, that I was loved and protected and that she … Mama was … everything to me. But names, faces, places all of the solid details were just gone." _

_Frankie remained silent, letting the young girl gather her thoughts and explain things at her own pace, just like he had with Carly on the beach in Kenya. _

_"My parents, foster parents; Judy and John they are good people, really, really good people who love me just as much as they do their own children. So, when I told them they told me everything they knew, which wasn't much really. I was a bit of a mystery; a foster child who spoke 3 different languages, had a 30 million pound trust fund yet was abandoned in the system with no name and never legally free for adoption," she laughed tiredly, everything starting to make more sense as her memories became clearer. _

_"The only really solid link they had was Louise," Charlie continued. "So I went to see her, earlier today and she told me pretty much exactly what my parents had except … you, she had your number and she said you might be my uncle. Are you?" she asked, not sure if she could take the disappointment if he was answered negatively. "Are you my uncle?" _

_As he listened to her voice break, despite the underlying hope in her question Frankie couldn't help but believe too. Her story made sense, that she would want to know more, that Louise would be the only clue she would have to her real identity and that she would lead them to each other. _

_"I don't know," Frankie admitted. "I hope I am … what you are saying … it's very possible that I am but …"_

_"I googled you," Charlie admitted, cutting him off. "I mean, I wanted to know as much as I could before I opened myself up to … possible disappointment. You have a sister; Katerina … Carly. Mama, her name was Carly but Papa he called her Katerina, she didn't like it, I remember that now which is strange because I didn't remember anything for ages but it's like … the door to those memories has been unlocked, I know that may seem strange but … he's dead right? Google told me that too," she whispered. _

_Frankie changed his phone over to the other hand. "Yes." _

_"I know I should be sad about that because if this is who I am, and this story is mine, my past then he was my Papa but … I didn't feel sad when I read it, I felt relieved because … he wasn't a good man, was he?" Charlie remembered, her voice breaking as she was reminded of the fear and uncertainty that life with him became. _

_"No," Frankie agreed. "He wasn't a good man." _

_Charlie looked down at her hands and she could almost picture her mother; bright green eyes, soft skin and arms so strong and welcoming that when she was being held by them, she could believe that everything would be ok. "Her hurt her didn't he? Mama … he … I … … that night …" _

_He could hear her breath start to speed up as short, sharp gasps echoed down the phone. "Edie … she's ok, I promise you … he's gone and she's safe." _

_In that moment, Frankie knew without a shadow of doubt that the terrified voice on the other end was his niece, that the quiet, polite tone belonged to the daughter Carly had spent the last 7 years seeing only in her dreams. _

_"We were supposed to go to Mexico," Charlie recalled. "She said it was where happiness began but he hurt her really, really bad. Omer; Mama's friend he came, and she couldn't stand, her breathing … she begged me to go, she said that it would be ok, that she would be ok and one day she would find me. She didn't find me, but I found her, right? You know where she is?" _

_"I do," Frankie assured her. _

_Charlie was silent for a few minutes before she finally found the courage to as the question, she had been dreading most of all. "Is she looking for me too?" _

_"With every breath she takes," Frankie reassured the young girl. "You are the first thing she thinks of when she wakes up and the last thing on her mind when she goes to sleep." _

_"So, what happens now?" Charlie wondered. _

_Frankie could hear the uncertainty in her voice. "I don't know. I need to talk to Carly, your mom and then …"_

_"When you tell her, can you tell her that I kept my promise and I never forgot that I was loved." _

Beth stood by the island in a stunned silence, unable to believe that after 7 years of torment they were so close to helping Carly reunite with her daughter. However a small voice, the cynical side of her couldn't help but fear that it was all too easy, after all just days ago the New York Post had published an article about how Carly was now the richest woman in the world and now here they were being contacted by her long-lost daughter. "Do you believe her?" she had to ask.

"At first I was skeptical," Frankie admitted. "After all the timing is a bit suspect, I mean there was the article just a few days ago and now this," he sighed, as if reading Beth's mind. "But then I realized; aside from us no one knows that Carly sent Edie away, as far as they all know mother and daughter are together. And Beth, oh God if you had heard the pain in her voice when talking about her memories … this girl, the one I spoke too … she lived through it all, I can feel it in my heart and soul that she was … it's her, it's Edie."

"Edie? Her … it's … what about her?" Carly gasped, stopping mid-step as she caught the last part of their conversation.

Frankie spun around on the chair, lifting his gaze up to face his sister as their eyes locked and he tried to decipher the maelstrom of emotions he could see swirling in the familiar green orbs. "Carly … I … it's not 100% but I think I know where she is, I think I have found Edie … well the other way around really, I think she found me."

"What? How?" Carly stammered unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Like I said, I don't know for sure and I wasn't going to say anything until I did as I don't want to get your hopes up but Edie, she's been looking for you and that search led her to me," Frankie explained.

Carly shook her head, unable to truly believe that after all these years of loss she might finally get her heart's greatest desire. "I don't understand, she found you? But how? Edie she doesn't know anything about you … we didn't talk about my life before because I didn't want her to think that her family, my family, didn't want to be a part of our lives so I just … didn't tell her, so how can she find something she didn't know existed?" Carly cried, her breath starting to come in short sharp gasps.

Gently, Frankie led Carly onto the sofa. "Cliff notes version? When you told me about Omer and how you arranged for him to take Edie to safety, I started doing some research. I found some colleagues of his that might have … questionable connections and contacted them. One of them; a lawyer in Jordan got back to me and said Omer had asked him to set up a trust, it was to for the upkeep of a child entering the foster care system and would then become hers when she came of age, the trust was-"

"30 million pounds," Carly finished for him.

"Yes," Frankie smiled, as he watched his sister's eyes starting to fill with hope. "Hamza; the lawyer he had a friend oversee the trust here in the US, a lady called Louise. So I e-mailed her on the off chance that she might know something, it turns out that when she turned 16, your daughter started to look for answers, her par … foster parents gave her Louise's details and Louise gave her my number, she called me, earlier today," he concluded.

Carly's heart started to race, and her palms were clammy as she shook her head, after years of isolation, loss and cruelty at the hands of her husband she was terrified to allow herself to believe. To believe that not only was she free to live her life as she pleased but that her daughter had been looking for her, that she had never forgotten her. "You spoke to her?"

Frankie wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him so her head was leaning on his shoulder as he felt her body tremble against him. "Yes. At first, I was skeptical, but she knew stuff … memories … I really do think it's her Carly … only she doesn't go by Edie anymore, she said her name is-"

"Charlotte," Carly whispered, remembering one of the last conversations she'd had with her daughter.

"Charlotte," Frankie repeated. "How did you know?"

Slowly, Carly lifted her head off of his shoulder, turning slightly so she was facing him. "When I was making the plans to escape, when it was going to be the 2 of us, I told her she could pick a name, a new name for a new beginning, she chose Charlotte after her favorite book; Charlotte's Web."

"She asked me to tell you something, she said to tell you that she wanted you to know that she kept her promise and she never forgot she was loved," Frankie whispered, as he pushed her hair back behind her ear.

"Oh God, it's her, it's really her," Carly sobbed, bringing her hands up to her face as her body started to shake with loud, heartbreaking sobs as she tried to control her breathing.

Frankie watched as his sister broke down, her body practically convulsing as she started to sob, tears of absolute devastation for everything she had lost, all that she had been through and sacrifices she had been forced to make. Knowing that she needed this moment, that she needed to release all of the emotions and pain she had kept locked away he didn't say a word, instead he just held her, waiting until finally the cried started to quieten and the shaking became a mere tremble.

"So, what happens now?" Carly breathed; her voice barely audible over the racing of her own heart.

Gently lifting her head so that she was looking at him Frankie smiled softly at his sister. "I don't know, I told Char … Edie, that I would call back after I spoke to you, let her know what the next step is. Carly, if you want to be 100% before meeting her, she's agreed to a DNA test-"

"No," Carly panicked. "I don't need to put her through that, I just need to see her and I will know."

"Ok," Frankie agreed, understanding where his sister was coming from and knowing she was right, she had given birth to this girl, raised her, loved her, protected her and devoted everything she had to her for 9 years, he knew that it would just take one glimpse for her to know.

Carly looked ahead at the wall; her eyes focused on a simple blank spot but her mind clearly somewhere else. "It's ok, to call her Charlotte you know. She'll always be Edie Boo but Charlotte, that was a name she chose for a new life, it was one of the first bits of control she ever had over her own future so it's ok."

A gentle kind of silence settled over the room as brother and sister seemed to both be contemplating what the best, next step would be.

Frankie was debating whether or not to broach the subject of Bo with Carly, curious to know if his sister intended to tell him that he was a father before or after Edie, or Charlotte as she was known now, was back in her life.

Carly's mind was completely focused on her daughter, she wanted nothing more than to get hold of her address and fly straight to her, but at the same time she didn't want to overwhelm her. Edie had a new life now, she was Charlotte; a 16-year-old teenager who probably already had some idea of what she wanted to be when she left school, what she wanted to study, places she wanted to travel to.

The last time Carly had spoken to her daughter she had been 9 years old, obsessed with books and the stories her mother would tell her of the places they would go when they left Alamaina. She wanted to work in a library for the first half of the week, become a doctor the second half and on the weekends, she wanted to take flying lessons.

She tried to imagine what she would look like now; would she be taller than her, would her hair still be curly, would the tiny little café-au-lait birthmark behind her ear still be visible and would her eyes still wrinkle when she laughed just like her father.

"I should tell Bo," Carly announced, breaking the silence.

Untangling his arm from around her Frankie sat forward on the sofa as Carly's posture mirrored his. "Are you sure?"

"No," she hesitated. "Maybe I should wait, until I know how things work out, I mean Edie still thinks that Lawrence is her father because that's what she grew up believing, I told her once though. She was 6 and he was taunting her about Bo and how it was the Brady in her that had killed Nicky, she was distraught, asked me what a Brady was so I told her that he was a kind, loving, gentle man who would have been so proud of her. She was so little though so I'm not really sure she understood."

Resting his hand on top of hers Frankie ran his finger over the back of her hand. "This is an extreme situation Carly, there is no right way or wrong way to deal with it. Telling Bo, well that's a decision only you can make."

"I need to know first. I need to know that she wants him in her life, I mean … she might not even want me back in her life," Carly worried.

"She does, I can assure you she does," Frankie insisted. "I heard her Carly, the longing in her voice, the hope that you were looking for her, the fear that you had given up on her, believe me when I say she wants this just as much as you do."

Carly wanted to believe every word he was saying, more than anything in the world. But after nearly 2 decades of being told she wasn't good enough, of being beaten down and broken both physically and emotionally it was hard to believe that good things could still happen to her. "Can you call her? I don't want our first conversation to be over the phone … could you ask her if she … if we can meet?"

"Of course," Frankie agreed, as he left to go and make the phone call, leaving Carly alone with a million different scenarios running through her head.


End file.
